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Alira
History Please note: Alira exists in a sort of alternate timeline where the only thing that's changed is the fact that she and a few others exist. Before Becoming a Toa Alira was once an ordinary silver-coloured Matoran living on the icy mountain-island of Aakui Nui. A very distant and isolated island, Aakui Nui was also surrounded by mists, making it very difficult to journey to. Alira lived in a quiet, peaceful village in the trees of the southern jungles, which grew on the southern and lowest tip of the island. The rest of the island was tall icy mountains. Her life in the village was quiet, and everyone there knew each other. The Matoran were happy. Blissfully happy. But, as stories go, happiness cannot last. Soon, the Matoran began spotting strange creatures in the mists of the mountains. And these creatures were new, different from the Rahi that the Matoran Guard already had to deal with. Fortunately, these new and strange beings didn't seem interested in the Matoran. Until, of course, they became interested. One day, the Matoran village found itself under attack from creatures of Makuta called Rahkshi. They soared throughout the treetop village, surrounding it within moments and moving in to attack. Alira, however, managed to escape their net in the chaos and run away into the jungle. She hid, travelling from bush to bush, doing her best to remain undetected. At one point, a new figure came stalking through the bushes. A tall green figure, taller than the Rahkshi and considerably heavier set, was scanning the ground very carefully. He mentioned something about searching for someone, then a giant blue spider walked through the bushes. The green creature then sprouted a set of wings, picked up the giant spider, and few off. This encounter was rather terrifying, and Alira broke into a sprint, fleeing as fast as possible into what she hoped was the safety a large series of mountains provides. She ran and ran, all the way up the slopes of Mount Talu'u, the tallest mountain on Aakui Nui. Eventually, she managed to reach the tip. And upon arriving there, she found something that hadn't been there before. A very small gazebo-like temple had appeared at the very center of the tip of the mountain, and in the middle was a circular pool of silvery liquid. Curious but timid, Alira very carefully approached the pool. When she got up to the edge, she at once felt the intense desire to touch it and the intense desire to run away from it. Eventually, fear got the better of her and she turned to leave. When she did so, however, she saw the blue spider from before standing not a meter behind her, and the green figure in the distance flying straight at her. In her shock and fright, she took a step back and fell right into the pool. Adventures as a Toa Upon clambering out of the pool she found herself changed. She found suddenly that she was covered in magnificent silver and white armour, and on her hand was some strange contraption. She had heard about this sort of thing before, and she knew that she had become a Toa. Even, so, the green creature and the blue spider were still bearing right down on her. She fired her little device, which didn't end up hitting them but it did force them to scatter. With that delay, she was able to slide down the side of the mountain and away from them. She sprinted through the mountains and then back into the forest, her powerful new Toa legs carrying her much faster than ever. Even so, she ran straight into a group of three red versions of the monsters that had attacked her village. They advanced on her menacingly, but were stopped as the winged green man and the blue spider dropped from the sky between her and the monsters. She thought she was done for, but the green man and his spider friend halted the advance of the red monsters, and shouted something about protecting the Toa at all costs. The two of them dispatched the aggressors with ruthless efficiency and approached Alira. The green man introduced himself as Grimlech and he introduced the blue spider as Pukka. He explained that he had been sent to Aakui Nui by a secretive order, and that he was supposed to train her to become a skilled Toa warrior. Alira begged Grimlech to go and retake her village, but the jaded former Toa refused. He explained that he not only didn't want to, as that was not why he was there, but also that even if he were so inclined he could not do it alone, or even with the help of Pukka. He led her up into the mountains to a secluded cavern on the northern tip of the island to train her. Grimlech was a harsh and uncompromising instructor, who strained her to the breaking point, and beyond in some cases. But he didn't just push her physically, he pushed her even harder mentally. Her body was something for him to condition, but her mind was something for him to forge like a Ta-Metru mask maker. He seemed determined to hammer every bit of her previous timid and innocent and happy self away. Alira's training was long and incredibly arduous, and included many live-combat situations. There was a point and which Grimlech and Pukka captured a Rahkshi, had her battle it in a gladiatorial-style duel, and then forced her to kill it, despite the immense moral issues that brought up in her. Then he explained that there should be no moral issues there at all, and that in a time of great strife such as this one, she should not be afraid to do anything necessary to achieve victory. He also helped her figure out her Toa powers. This proved more difficult than at first expected, as Alira initially feared what her new abilities could do to her friends. Grimlech made her put such fears aside, and he helped her to draw from the strength within, thanks to his own previous experience as a Toa. At first, all she could manage to do was create a pink light around her outstretched hand. Eventually, however, this ability became clearer. Alira discovered that she could take apart and put together various pieces of inanimate objects with an elemental power that Grimlech dubbed "The Element of Creation." Which, as he said, would make her the first recorded Toa of Creation. She could take apart a rock and make it into a castle rampart, or take apart a tree and make it into a boat, all over the course of a few seconds. Eventually, Grimlech judged Alira ready to undertake a special mission. She and Pukka would go out and locate her Toa Tool. After a long trek with more than a few encounters with Rahkshi, she made it to a miniature glacier at the bottom of a secluded valley. It took only a minimal use of her power to reveal a double-bladed sword that fit perfectly in her hands. After being armed with this weapon the two returned to Grimlech, who trained her in using this. She wanted to specialize in range with her zamor launcher, but Grimlech wouldn't have that. He taught her a more acrobatic combat style, designed to use both blades to their maximum potential and shred enemies at close quarters. Once he judged her to be ready, he and Alira drew up a plan of attack to retake the Matoran village, and with the aid of her powers they succeeded. The village elders, seeing that Alira had become a Toa, guided her to an ancient cavern beneath the village. In this cave there were many carvings on the wall in Matoran, but many were too worn to read. That which could be read described an ancient device, some sort of failsafe, that could only be activated by the power of a certain Toa. They could tell that this was something that Alira had to do. They followed the vague directions back to the top of Mount Talu'u, where Alira destructed the temple and revealed a staircase spiraling down into the darkness. They found a machine far below, but just as Alira was about to activate it, an unknown Makuta and a host of Rahkshi descended to stop them. Grimlech and Pukka worked to hold back the Rahkshi while Alira fought off the Makuta. Despite his power, Alira eventually triumphed, and in doing so, learned that her power of destruction wasn't limited to inanimate objects. She could also destruct living things. She activated the device, and neither of them could figure out exactly what it did. Even so, Grimlech felt that his job on Aakui Nui was done, and despite Alira's request that he stay, Grimlech and Pukka left for the distant shores of Metru Nui. Alira remained in her village, feeling restless and a little irked. Until, that is, the Matoran Universe came crashing down and all of its inhabitants spilled out onto Spherus Magna. All of them, and so she knew that she could find Grimlech again. On Spherus Magna After spilling out onto the surface of Spherus Magna, Alira stayed with the Matoran and Agori for a while, and her powers of creation were of great benefit when creating a grand new city for them to live in as a united people. All the while she was asking around people connected with every single settlement looking for Grimlech or Pukka. She even asked his oldest friends, the former Toa Metru, and they said they didn't even know anything. Eventually, she realized that Grimlech was not anywhere civilized, and was unlikely to show up at one. So she left the city and set off, following the very few clues that Nokama and Nuju gave her to find him. It was a very long journey, one fraught with peril. The lands of Spherus Magna were still in turmoil from its recent transformation, and the journey simply kept getting more and more difficult. But Alira persevered, following the ever more obvious trail that she hoped would eventually lead to Grimlech. And eventually, it did. By the time she had finally caught up with Grimlech, he and Pukka were talking to some tall dark and scary figure, the likes of which she had never seen before. She ran down the mountain, fearing that Grimlech may be in danger, she rushed down and placed herself between Grimlech and his perceived assailant. She was surprised, however, to find that Grimlech and the strange dark woman were friends. He introduced her as Lariska, the former Dark Hunter and old ally/rival/enemy, and the deadliest person he had ever met. Alira was at first deeply mistrustful of Lariska, and found her nearly intolerable. There was a strong rivary between the two, until Grimlech managed to settle it by having all of them go out and fight something. That helped to get the ball rolling, and after learning more about each other in the heat of battle rather than simply guarded conversation, they discovered that they actually didn't mind each other at all. Over time, this not-minding developed into a proper relationship, and the four of them began operating together out of mutual self-interest. Abilities and Personality Abilities Alira is an individual of many different abilities. In her initial Matoran form, her only notable ability was swinging from tree branch to tree branch like a lemur. She was very good at that. Upon transforming into a Toa, the floodgates opened to a whole host of new abilities, but it was her mentor, Grimlech, that really molded her talents. Initially, she tried to train herself in the art of combat from range, using her Zamor launcher. While Grimlech and Pukka did help her train in the art of ranged combat, Grimlech considered it sloppy and unreliable, and he trained her much harder in the arts of hand-to-hand combat, melee combat with bladed weaponry, and melee combat with blunt weaponry, just in case. Once Alira acquired her dual-bladed sword, Grimlech trained her in the proper use of that as well. Her talents focused primarily on a vicious meat-grinder combat style, focusing on speed, acrobatics and rapid strikes to multiple vulnerable portions of the opposition. Grimlech had taught her that the key to victory was not to simply use your enemy's weaknesses or your own strengths, but rather to identify your opponent's weaknesses, which of your strengths would be useful against them and then leverage your own strengths to achieve tactical superiority. Personality As a Matoran, Alira was an adventurous yet timid soul. She was quite shy, and spent much of her time in solitude. She took great pleasure in exploring the island on which she lived, and was a firm believer that there was always something new and interesting to be found. The only place she was never allowed to go was the peak of Mount Talu'u, for the village elders had repeatedly said that it was very dangerous and strictly forbidden. Many times she felt the urge to explore the peak, but her own timid nature and respect for the village elders made her stay away. Upon becoming a Toa, at least initially, she retained many of these traits, including a fear of Grimlech. This fear is something Grimlech used to mould her. He built up Alira's confidence in herself, and worked on making her more down-to-earth and practical. He also instilled in her some of his own unique viewpoints. Alira rapidly lost the innocence she had been carrying with her, replaced by a more cynical viewpoint and a slightly more ruthless nature for a Toa than normal. After completing what Grimlech believed to be Alira's duty, he left, leaving Alira feeling, for lack of a better term, jilted. She stayed to protect the Matoran and Agori, but only for a short time, as she was quite restless and wanted to see more action. She's quite intelligent, and started working on developing theories about her powers while Grimlech was satisfied with simply calling it Creation. She also thoroughly studied history and traditions of prominent societies within the Matoran Universe. After spilling out onto the surface of Spherus Magna, however, these interests could only stave off restlessness for a short time. Powers and Equipment Powers Alira's element was dubbed Creation by her mentor, Grimlech. This was upon witnessing her form some rubble into a desk. When Alira uses her power she extends her right hand, and it glows pink. The object or objects she's targeting also glows pink. She can use this to construct almost anything that she can think up, within reason. Initially, it was believed that it could only construct something from something, but they discovered it could simply be used to destruct things. They also believed it only worked on inanimate objects, but that too was debunked when she used her abilities to destruct a Makuta, piece by piece. Alira spent plenty of time testing the limitations of her powers. The first and most obvious thing that she discovered was that she couldn't simply make one thing into anything she wanted. If she wanted to create a Zamor turret, or perhaps an article of clothing, she couldn't make that out of a pile of stone. She could however make a desk or perhaps a barricade out of stone. She also discovered that range and size had an effect on her powers. The larger the object or target she was using her powers on, the more taxing it was on her. The complexity of the object also seemed to effect the energy spent, as a stone desk was much easier to create than a hoverboard. This principle does not apply to destructing, that seems to mostly be effected by size. Her powers are further modified by the distance she is from her target. The further away from her target, the more energy she had to expend to effect an object or target. Effectively, this means that the further away her target, the smaller it has to be. There seems to be a sort of ten metre zone around her in which her power is at its strongest, and beyond that her powers decrease linearly with distance. Furthermore, her powers take time to do their thing, time during which Alira is entirely immobile. While she remains fully aware of her surroundings, she can do nothing about them. She is particularly vulnerable during this period, and as such, she is generally more effective when fighting alongside someone who can watch her back. However, there are undoubtedly many advantages to these powers despite the limitations. When running down a tunnel, it takes but a moment for Alira to cause a cave-in to cover her escape. She can turn inhospitable caverns and emergency shelters into entirely agreeable living spaces. She can construct bridges to get over chasms or rivers, destruct barriers in her own path, and of course she can basically insta-kill an enemy. Over time she conditioned herself and developed her powers, steadily increasing her mastery over her powers, allowing to effect larger things, and at greater distances. She could also effect multiple targets, such as when she destructed three renegade Skrall at once during her trek across Spherus Magna. Equipment Her equipment is relatively simple to describe. In addition to her Kanohi Tryna and Zamor Launcher, she also has a dual-bladed sword which she uses to carve up enemies in close quarters. She cannot use her powers of creation with it, however, it is a viciously effective weapon.